Battle over potential hotel brought to S.C. Supreme Court
BEAUFORT, SC. (WTOC) - A battle over development in one Lowcountry city has made its way to the highest court in South Carolina.
The quiet city of Beaufort claims to be the second oldest in South Carolina. Within it, is a historic district that includes places like the Beaufort Inn.
The Inn has been open since the 1800s, with centuries of charm spiraling through it. Now though a plan to expand it, is bringing controversy.
The parking lot across the street from the existing structure is the site of the proposed new building, that the developer says would bring an additional 72 rooms to a hotel that right now has 46.
Dick Stewart is the Chair of the board for that developer - 303 Associates - and he tells us as people come to this city there’s a problem.
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“There have been weddings, there have been corporate meetings, there have been lawyers associations, judges associations, any number of state associations that have wanted to come to Beaufort but they don’t have a place to stay.”
He says expanding the Beaufort Inn would fix that. When we visited the halls and elevators were mostly empty, but the plan would add a full-service restaurant and pool. The developer hopes that brings more people to the hotel and the city.
The Historic Beaufort Foundation is just steps away from where the new building would go up, and they disagree.
They’ve been carrying their efforts to stop this hotel through the judicial system for years, and are now asking the South Carolina Supreme Court to hear their case.
Wayne Vance is on the Historic Beaufort Foundation’s Board of Trustees. He says, “Procedurally we feel like there was some serious lapse in the process and that’s the point of our appeal.”
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Vance says his organization is trying to fulfill their mission of protecting the National Historic District, saying the proposed expansion of the Beaufort Inn is not the right project for the area.
“It’s in the very center, the very heart of the historic district. I think it takes a special kind of building and a special kind of architecture that would be appropriate for that area.”
The state supreme court first has to decide if they’ll consider the case, but the developer thinks even that shouldn’t happen.
Stewart tells WTOC about the Supreme Court, “If they make a mistake and don’t dismiss it then we’ll make a decision to deal with that then, but we’re not contemplating that because every court everywhere that’s looked at this has said what we did and what the city did was proper.”
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